1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glass run structure for a door of an automobile, which is capable of realizing a so-called flush surface connection, i.e., an approximately flat surface connection of an outer surface of a door glass with an outer surface of a side body in its door open-close portion when the door is closed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional glass run member for a door of an automobile, designed for intending a flush surface connection, that is, an approximately flat surface connection of an outer surface of a door glass with an outer surface of a side body in its door open-close portion on closing the door, has been proposed, as disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Specification No. 60-155630. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the door 1 comprises a door glass 2 adapted to be movable up and down, a door body 3 having a housing therein for the movable door glass 2, and a door frame 4 mounted to the door body 3, the door frame 4 defining an upper outline of the door 1.
FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section of an upper part of the door 1. A weather strip 5 to make tight contact with a door opening end portion of the side body of the automobile is mounted to the upper surface of the door frame 4 on an internal side R of the automobile, and the glass run member 6 is disposed at the lower surface of the door frame 4 on an external side O of the automobile. The weather strip 5 and the glass run member 6 are made of a resilient material such as rubber or a synthetic resin.
The glass run member 6 is provided with a hollow lip 7 to resiliently make contact with an upper end 2a of the door glass 2 and with a projected lip 8 having a tongue-like shape to resiliently contact an inner surface 2b of the door glass 2. An outer surface 2c of the door glass 2 is arranged in substantially the same flat plane as that where an outer surface 4a of the door frame 4 and the outer surface of the door open-close portion of the side body (not shown) of the automobile are positioned when the door 1 is closed. Therefore, the outer surface 2c of the door glass 2 is approximately linked to the outer surface 4a of the door frame 4 and the outer surface of the side body via the hollow lip 7 of the glass run member 6 in substantially the same flat plane.
In this conventional door 1, when the door glass 2 is properly mounted to the door body 3, as shown by the solid lines in FIG. 2, the outer surface 2c of the door glass 2 and the outer surface 4a of the door frame 4 are arranged in substantially the same flat plane, resulting in a flush surface connection of the outer surface 2c of the door glass 2 with the outer surface 4a of the door frame 4, as described above. However, when the door glass 2 is improperly mounted to the door body 3, for example, when it is inclined toward the internal side R due to an assembling error or the like, the projected lip 8 is deformed and becomes largely bent towards the internal side R by the inclined door glass 2, with the door glass 2 being fixed to the inclined position from the normal position, as shown by the two-dotted lines in FIG. 2. Consequently, the outer surface 2c of the door glass 2 becomes arranged in a discontinuous state with respect to the outer surface 4a of the door frame 4, thereby losing the flush surface connection thereof.